“Sita Ram Pande, the author of these memoirs, was one of the many Indian soldiers who helped the British to conquer India, and thereafter to hold it. He enlisted in 1812 as a sepoy into an infantry regiment of the Bengal Native Army, and he remained a soldier until he went on pension in 1860 after forty-eight years service. During the intervening period he had taken part in the campaigns against the Gurkhas, the Pindaris and Mahrattas, and the Sikhs; he had been present at the storming of Bharatpore; and he had taken part in the ill-fated First Afghan War. He remained true to his salt during the Mutiny. He rose from Sepoy to Subedar, but only attained the latter rank when he was too old to be able to perform his duties. He claims that he was wounded seven times, taken prisoner once, and was awarded six medals. At the end of this long and interesting career, and at the behest of his last Commanding Officer, he set down in writing the story of his experiences in the service of the always incomprehensible British."